The Unbridled Genius, Playing the Fool to Outwit the Tiger

Bang!

The noblewoman was shoved out by the young girl, the sound of the girl's sobbing still audible from inside the room.

"It's okay, Tongtong. Mom was the same way at your age. Just wait a couple more years, and it’ll get better."

"Waaah! Liar! You said the same thing last time! Waaah—!" The girl's heart-wrenching cries echoed from within, as if she no longer trusted a single word in this world.

It seemed that ever since puberty hit, the girl had started fixating on this issue.

Back in her early teens, she had been utterly naive—though, truth be told, she wasn’t much different now. Back then, she hadn’t yet become a delinquent loli, just an adorable little thing.

With her petite, childlike figure, she hadn’t stood out much at first. Everyone was roughly the same size, and she was just a bit smaller.

At the time, the noblewoman had managed to brush it off with a simple, "Being tiny is cute too!"

But as the years passed, one by one, her peers outgrew their childlike proportions—while she remained stubbornly small and "cute."

The girl finally cracked. She ran home in tears, demanding answers from her mother. Why was she still so tiny?

The noblewoman had reassured her then, saying she was just a late bloomer, that she’d let others take the lead for now.

But that "lead" had stretched into seven or eight years.

Now, at twenty years old, the girl was still stuck with her "ultra-petite, childlike figure."

So tiny and cute~

"You evil, oversized melon! I don’t wanna talk to you! Waaah—!"

The girl’s sobs carried through the door. The noblewoman glanced down at herself.

...Well. That was pretty evil.

She had no idea why. Their family genes were decent, so how had Tongtong ended up with this mutation?

Could she have been switched at birth?

The noblewoman shook her head, sighing. She could only hope her daughter really was a late bloomer. Otherwise, she might end up starving her future children.

"Tongtong, Mom’s leaving now, okay? If you feel unwell, make sure to speak up. Don’t bottle it up."

"Waaah! Damn it! Why can’t I be an evil, oversized melon?! Waaah—!"

The noblewoman: "..."

Soon, the sound of her footsteps faded down the hallway, and the girl’s crying gradually subsided.

Xia Tongxin lay sprawled on her bed, looking half-dead, before finally mustering the energy to sit up. She remembered something important—she still had unfinished business.

She hadn’t gotten her revenge yet!

That bastard!

Xia Tongxin grabbed her phone, logged into the game, copied Ye Cheng’s username, and then contacted the hacker on her family’s payroll.

Her demand: Find Ye Cheng’s location within five minutes, or you’re fired!

Truly the daughter of a tycoon.

She’d given him five minutes, but the hacker sent back Ye Cheng’s precise location in under three.

Location: Great Sea City Noble Academy, male dormitory area.

No exact room number, though.

Xia Tongxin’s eyes widened. She scrambled off the bed, not even bothering with shoes, her bare feet sinking into the plush luxury of her high-end wool carpet.

"Evil melon! Stupid mom! I’m going back to school!"

The girl declared she was returning to school.

Technically, she should already be there—Great Sea City Noble Academy. While Great Bay City had similarly elite institutions, Xia Tongxin’s status was… complicated.

If she attended there, she’d likely end up "isolated."

Not in the sense of being ignored, though. More like being swarmed by sycophants. Everyone knew she was the casino king’s most beloved youngest daughter, so they’d trip over themselves to curry favor.

Despite her delinquent loli act, Xia Tongxin was painfully easy to manipulate—she could barely refuse anyone’s requests.

A few sweet words at school, and she’d be led around like a lost puppy. But none of those "friends" were genuine. She’d been hurt before, and now she was fiercely resistant to making new connections.

So resistant, in fact, that she refused to attend school at all.

Instead, she drowned herself in anime and manga, muttering things like "pathetic" and "trash mob" under her breath…

For multiple reasons, Great Bay City wasn’t an option. The casino king didn’t want his little girl suffering, so he settled on Great Sea City Noble Academy.

Xia Tongxin had enrolled three years ago, lasted two days, then bolted home, claiming she hated the people there. Her family couldn’t bear to see her unhappy, so they let her stay—after all, a degree meant nothing to her.

Now, technically a third-year senior, she was practically no different from a freshman.

And now, because of Ye Cheng, she was about to deliver herself straight to him—ready to confront him in person!

---

Great Sea City

Inside the academy, within Dongfang Zhixia’s villa…

"Waaah! Miss, I can’t take it anymore! Please, spare me! Waaah—!"

The little secretary’s tearful wails echoed through the first-floor hall.

Dongfang Zhixia lounged in a rocking chair, idly swinging a plastic fly swatter. Seeing the secretary’s pace slow on the treadmill, she—

Whack!

"Waaah! No more hitting! Waaah—!"

The secretary poured every ounce of effort into sprinting on the treadmill, her excess jiggling with each step.

"This is what you get for disobeying me! Who told you to apologize to that woman?!"

"Hmph!"

Dongfang Zhixia’s cold snort made it clear she was still fuming over the secretary’s groveling apology to Shen Qinghan earlier that day. The secretary, pitiful as she was, stayed silent and kept running.

"You eat so much yet never exercise. Starting today, you’re running ten kilometers every evening!"

"Huh?! Nooo, Miss! Waaah—!"

As she watched the secretary sweat buckets on the treadmill, Dongfang Zhixia’s mind drifted back to the day’s events.

"In this short life of 30,000 days, you expect me to grovel for some worthless diploma or job?"

"As long as I, Ye Cheng, am alive, I’ll stand tall and earn my way with my own hands!"

"Go ahead, have me run over in the street. But if you don’t, I swear I’ll pin you down one day!"

For some reason, Dongfang Zhixia found Ye Cheng’s words… oddly cool. Even though he’d basically been insulting her.

But Dongfang Zhixia was a woman of extreme rationality. Only in rare moments did she act impulsively—

Like when she’d tried to humiliate Ye Cheng by stepping on him, only for him to bite her foot instead.

She’d lost it then.

She’d imagined every possible reaction—except that one.

A move so unexpected it left her speechless.

That night after returning, Dongfang Zhixia spent a full two hours washing her feet in the bathroom.

Physically, the traces were probably completely gone, but mentally, it wasn’t so easy. Often, when her mind wandered, she would suddenly feel someone biting down on her.

At those moments, Dongfang Zhixia would snap back to reality, her skin breaking out in goosebumps.

For her, such an incident was undeniably humiliating. She wanted revenge—she had to make Ye Cheng pay a painful price!

Did he really think a few tough words would let him off the hook? Though… she had to admit, it was kind of impressive.

No one would have guessed that the proud Student Council President Dongfang would actually fall for that kind of thing.

Raised in a well-off family, the values and principles instilled in her were deeply rooted—self-reliance, never backing down.

That’s why Dongfang Zhixia despised those spoiled rich kids who couldn’t do anything on their own, leeching off their families. Useless trash, the lot of them.

Only those who relied on their own abilities could earn her approval and respect.

After reading Ye Cheng’s background, Dongfang Zhixia became intrigued. At the very least, he was far better than those entitled rich boys around her who did nothing but coast on their family names.

A lowly weed that grew up in an orphanage, yet he managed to claw his way into their prestigious academy through sheer talent and effort.

And Dongfang Zhixia had seen his grades.

They were the highest among all the new students—even higher than hers.

He looked like some irresponsible idiot, but turns out he was a genius? A free-spirited genius?

Interesting. Very interesting.

If Ye Cheng had been a fool, the things he said at the cafeteria earlier would’ve just been laughable—the weak, pitiful cries of an insignificant bug.

But the problem was, Ye Cheng actually seemed to have the potential to back it up.

That changed everything.

Dongfang Zhixia had always been first in everything, even entering the academy through her own merit. Yet here was someone whose grades surpassed hers, overshadowing her.

It ignited the most fundamental part of her—an overwhelming desire to win.

First, she’d been tricked by Ye Cheng. Then, she failed to catch him when chasing him. That was two losses. Add the academic ranking at the start of the semester, and it made three.

She had lost to him three times.

Three. Whole. Times.

She would win it back. She’d crush that idiot beneath her heel!

Just as Dongfang Zhixia imagined trampling Ye Cheng underfoot, her mind involuntarily replayed some… excessive scenes—moments from when he had attacked her earlier.

Her breathing grew slightly uneven, her flawless face tinged with an unnatural flush, her ears burning hot.

“Huh? Miss, your face is so red! Are you running a fever? Should I call a doctor?”

The curious voice of her assistant piped up beside her.

Dongfang Zhixia: “…”

She instinctively touched her cheek. Sure enough, it was scorching.

Flustered and furious, she grabbed the fly swatter nearby and then—

“Ow! Waaah! Stop hitting me, Miss! I’m sorry! Waaah…”

“Seems like ten kilometers wasn’t enough. From now on, you’re running twenty!”

“Nooo, Miss! Waaah…”